Trying the MERDC experimentation again and while I am sure I have the pattern down, I want to decide now on painting the vehicles in a summer or a temperate winter European scheme. The last one, if you remember, was more of the summer MERDC variant based on the colors I had on hand.
The Field Drab, at least to me, has been hard to find in a spray can so I used dark tan thinking I could darken it up a little afterwards with a wash.
Colors used: Basecoat in Model Master Dark Tan, blue tac applied then sprayed in Krylon Dark Olive. Apple Barrel khaki and black used for the squiggles. Vallejo Germ Camo Black/Brown used for the tracks. Dry brushed with AB Khaki.
I'm pretty pleased with the result and short of painting by hand using the most accurate colors, I think I'll go with either of these 2 patterns for my fleet of M113s, M1s, and Bradleys as I can spray the lot of them in a day. Perfect is the enemy of good enough!
My question to you all is - summer (right) or winter (left)? Check out the pictures below and let me know in the comments section!
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| MERDC summer on the right and my first go at European winter on the left. (no washes or dry brushing applied yet). |
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| More for comparison. No wash or dry brushing on the European Summer Verdant on the left yet. |
This took me a few models to get the right amount of tan on and I'll have to re-do a few of them as they have way too much tan. I still feel like the green should be the most prominent.
A few shades of earthshade wash and finally I used a black
(sorry David - in spite of your advice, I couldn't help myself!) wash to darken the tan down.
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| With the washes applied - starting to look better! Ignore the Royal Artillery Gunner laying there. He's still sleeping off the New Year's extra rum ration... |
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| dry brushing and weathering and he could have just come off the range at Grafenwoher or Hohenfels! |
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| US Army 1970s era trooper for scale. |
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| Soviet officer figure for scale. Not bad! |
So that's it. What do you guys think? Should I paint the fleet in the tan winter or the European summer with the green?
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| On this picture the tan looks more tan than my tan! |
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| Temperate winter of some sorts? |
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| Summer Verdant |
Winter.
ReplyDeleteCheck. 1 vote for winter!
DeleteI like the Summer.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rodney. At first it occurred to me that the summer was closer to genuine colors. That's 1 vote for summer!
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ReplyDeleteDefinitely the Winter. The tan and weathering look excellent here.
ReplyDeleteThe Winter is the classic US Army look I think.
Thanks Darren. I'm getting some PM's throwing in their vote for winter as well. Officially that's another vote for winter!
DeleteI'd vote for winter as well. The summer cammo is nice but it might "stick out" on a wargames table unless your terrain is set for it. It's your choice anyway! (Good work, BTW.)
ReplyDeletethanks John! Another vote for winter scheme!
DeleteTally another vote for winter, but be sure to throw in the odd summer or two vehicle per game for that added touch of US Army realism (uniform, non-uniformity!)
ReplyDeleteYes I know all too well the US Army's concept to try and confuse the enemy that is "uniform non-uniformity" :)
DeleteBoth mate. Let them serve side by side. I agree with David on this. I would even throw in some Reforger Desert schemes.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work all around. It was supposed to be a max of 5% black and 5% tan per scheme and yours look about spot on, which is hard to do,
Kudos!
That sounds logical, Paul. A healthy dose of everything.
DeleteI'm a little upset about the tan color but the wash seems to darken it up enough.
I vote winter! Both of them look great though.
ReplyDeleteOh, any progress on the FOW T-72s?
Good to hear from you Ben! Looks like winter is winning hands-down but I think I'll keep a few of them in summer as per some of the above recommendations.
DeleteNo progress whatsoever although the ENTIRE Soviet vehicle fleet is now undergoing a huge painting overhaul in "tankovy green" so stay tuned! The FOW T-72s are coming up very soon.
I do like the winter more!
ReplyDeleteSeems winter is the winner!
DeleteReally nicely done. I have read that MERC was not used until the late 1980's. Is that correct?
ReplyDeleteKen,
DeleteMERDC camouflage was developed as early as 1975 and I believe in-use as early as 1976 and used as late as 1991 in various forms. NATO tri-color was also in use as early as 1983 with some US units, although there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to who got it and why...check out this TMP link from some tread-heads in Cold War W. Germany serving in USAREUR.
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=379776
I suppose as Paul said it would have been a mix of everything, depending on what was with front-line units, what was in pre-positioned depots and what made it over on the supply convoys. My own preference for the verdant/summer pattern.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Michael. As it turns out, both schemes will have a place in the force. I've decided to paint any/all specialist vehicles (M577, M901 TOW, M551 Sheridans, etc) in the Summer verdant pattern with the green on green.
DeleteThe line platoons both tank and mech will be painted in the winter scheme.
I think this gives me a healthy mix of schemes and, more appropriately, the chaotic look of an American Army unit in the field.
Even if it does chafe my OCD!!